Question for Those with Kids

[tahitigirl]

I was wondering if your children are in school the week of Dec 11-18, or are they out for the holidays?

 

If school is in session, would you pull them out for a cruise?

 

Thanks.

[Tatka]

I think it's personal choice. Some parents think cruise can be educational for the kids.

 

I won't pull my son out for a cruise.

 

I can't say he is a very good student right now but it will teach him to care about school even less. His school also has very strict rules about missing so many days.

 

Plus it won't be fun for him anyway as he likes to hang out with other kids and there won't be many.

[Orcrone]

My kids are also in school that week. I also have to second what Tatka says. I don't like justifying kids missing school. I want to send the message that as kids your first priority is your education.

[temple10]

I have booked a cruise December 21 through Jan 5th and whatever school there is between those dates My son will be missing. I agree to the fact that school is very inportant. BUT The experience, the excitment,thrill, is a once in a life time thing. Enjoying life with my son while im here is a treasure, and missing a few days of school I accept for something like a cruise.:)

[Lisa63]

Our schools will be in session the week of Dec 11. We cruise during school vacations only -- in fact, we just booked one for February break.

[Florida Beach]

My 16 years old loves school too much to let me pull her out of school :p So that's an easy question:)

[Tatka]

Sometimes we take 1 week vacation during Thanksgiving week because it's only 2 days of school, but Mike usually has to take all missing tests and homeworks and it's not fun.

 

I would avoid even this situation but we have 5 other people in my MIS department with kids and little bit more seniority than me and Christmas , February and April vacation usually taken by others. I will try to take April vacation though as I found very interesting and affordable California Coastal cruise. I am in pretty much in heated debates about this right now. God help me win as I really want to go! ;)

[superstein61]

If school is in session, would you pull them out for a cruise?

.

 

I have taken my 10 year old daughter out of school several times the past 5 years to go on vacation. It hasn't harmed her in the least - and she has a chance to learn more about the world be venturing to different places

[F5Loar]

Our 7 year old who just finished her 20th cruise has been taken out of school several times over the years. Last year for 1st grade she had 4 days out and she was granted an educational leave which meant she didn't miss any days. She had to do a write up and present it to the class about her foreign travels. So yes it can be educational and I see no problem pulling them out of school for up to 5 days. Our schools as most will be in session that week.

A lot of the decision is personal and has to do with can your child miss school at all? But for us finding a sitter for a week is more trouble than taking her with us and after 20 cruises with us I doubt she would want to be left home.

[torybruno]

Most schools will be in session during that time except for track schools. I think most schools on a traditional calendar would be letting out closer to Christmas. We cruised the week before Christmas one year maybe the 13-20th time frame, the big plus being it was a very cheap week to cruise, just before the most expensive week! I would think there would not be a high number of kids on board that week.

 

Only you and your child's teacher know what's best for your child. If your child is struggling in any way, it may not be in the best interest to have them miss that much school. Fortunately our kids were never in that catagory, and we thought an experience such as touring Mayan ruins or swimming with stingrays is a very educational experience. We have always taken our kids out in the past for a vacation, but now that my oldest son will be entering high school, we will not pull him for a week at a time. This year we are looking for a Thanksgiving cruise, and he will only miss two days.

 

Good luck!

[tahitigirl]

Thanks for all your replies. I think I've come to the conclusion that since there won't be many children on board, it wouldn't be as much fun for a child. Waiting seems to be the best answer.

[Roz]

I'm on the Zaandam Dec. 11-18, so please don't pull your child out of school...that's the big reason why I booked that week, no kids. LOL Seriously, I've found children to be a welcome addition on any cruise I've been on. However, if I had children, I don't think I'd pull them out of school. I think it sends the child a bad message, that school isn't important.

 

Roz

[F5Loar]

I think it sends the message that "my mommy and daddy are important enough to me to take me with them on vacation" You see I grew up with parents that left us home when they went on vacation. Nothing worse then seeing your parents come home from vacation with a dippy Tshirt present that says "My Mom and Dad swam with the Dolphins and All I Got was this TShirt"

Your children are not little forever, take them with you for a return on investment that is priceless!

[Tatka]

I think it sends the message that "my mommy and daddy are important enough to me to take me with them on vacation" You see I grew up with parents that left us home when they went on vacation. Nothing worse then seeing your parents come home from vacation with a dippy Tshirt present that says "My Mom and Dad swam with the Dolphins and All I Got was this TShirt"

Your children are not little forever, take them with you for a return on investment that is priceless!

 

You are absolutely right. I would never leave my child behind!

 

The only time he wasn't with us on vacation was this May in Med ( was too tiring even for us adults)...but we sent him with grandmother to Universal stidios/Disney/Nasa exactly one week after his school year ended.

 

And because we don't want to leave our son at home we take our vacations during his school vacations. I know it's more expensive and we are sailing inside/outside for the price of off-peak suites but this is a trade off. We are with our child on vacation and he isn't missing school. He also knows that even cheaper prices won't make us let him skip scool. ;)

[iluvcruzin]

I have a difference of opinion. I think it's wrong to pull children out of school for a vacation. Most of the time it's the parent's choice and they are doing it as a convience for themselves - not for the benefit of the child. The "Educational" excuse for school removal doesn't fly in my opinion. Children can travel during times they are not in school and I can't understand why some parents don't book their vacations around it. It's plain selfish not to be a responsible parent and keep children in school when school is in session. It's plain selfish to expect teachers to accomidate the child's absense with make up assigments. It's selfish to make a child do make-up work because the parent didn't want to cater to the childs schedule. Of course the short-term out of school thing won't totally damage a child,. It's just makes no sense to me why Parent's don't put school 1st and vacation 2nd.

 

I cruised with my kids during spring break when there was no school in session. Yes.. it was a crazy time to go.. however.. I did the right thing.

If you take a poll of teachers.. most would agree with my thinking.

(I apologize if I struck a nerve with some of you.. but this is really how I view it.)

[taszmom]

Well apparently a lot of kids are getting pulled out of school this fall...it's hard to find triple & quad occupancy staterooms on the fall cruises this year. Some sailings are almost completely sold out. My daughter is starting Kindergarten this year and I am having the debate with myself about taking her out of school for a week. Both my husband and I work during holidays...we are not allowed to take time off so we have to find alternative times to go.

[ore-ee-gun]

Personally, I think allowing a child to miss school for a "vacation" sends the wrong message to him/her - that having fun is more important than attending class. We went round and round with my in-laws over this a few years ago. Their argument was that our daughter is such a good student that missing a few days wouldn't do any harm. We feel that she is a good student because she is at school when she is supposed to be.

 

Having said that, younger children are probably less affected by an absence than middle or high school-age kids. Missing even one day in high school can create a huge amount of make-up work. Just MHO

[superstein61]

I have a difference of opinion. I think it's wrong to pull children out of school for a vacation. Most of the time it's the parent's choice and they are doing it as a convience for themselves - not for the benefit of the child. The "Educational" excuse for school removal doesn't fly in my opinion. Children can travel during times they are not in school and I can't understand why some parents don't book their vacations around it. It's plain selfish not to be a responsible parent and keep children in school when school is in session. It's plain selfish to expect teachers to accomidate the child's absense with make up assigments. It's selfish to make a child do make-up work because the parent didn't want to cater to the childs schedule. Of course the short-term out of school thing won't totally damage a child,. It's just makes no sense to me why Parent's don't put school 1st and vacation 2nd.

 

I cruised with my kids during spring break when there was no school in session. Yes.. it was a crazy time to go.. however.. I did the right thing.

If you take a poll of teachers.. most would agree with my thinking.

(I apologize if I struck a nerve with some of you.. but this is really how I view it.)

 

Sorry, I work in a pretty exclusive private school - and I disagree wholeheartedly. We encourage educational travel. It broadens a child's mind and realm of experience. In fact, we offer semesters overseas, planned trips to several foreign countries, etc. Most of our grade levels taketrips during the year. When a child has an opportunity to accompany their parent to some interesting, far off place, they should do so. Educational opportunities abound. There are many things a child can not learn from books alone